


Shifting Sand

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar (TV), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:12:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8071111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “What are you talking ab—oh,” he stopped himself, quickly figuring out what she meant. “I’m not the best person to be asking this, you know.”“Why not?” She scooped up a handful of sand and watched it as it slowly fell through her fingers. “If anything, you’re the best person to talk to about it.”“What makes you say that?”“You’re his family.” She emphasized.“So? He doesn’t care.”----On the night Aang goes missing Katara and Zuko spend some of their night in contemplation through conversation.





	

“Hey,” Zuko sat down next to his friend, exhaling softly. “Everyone’s asleep already. What are you still doing out here?” He looked at her, brows furrowed.

Katara lifted her head up from her knees to look at him, then chewed her lip. “I’m just thinking,” she said. “Do you think Aang had a point?” She asked after several moments of letting the tide lap at her feet.

“What are you talking ab—oh,” he stopped himself, quickly figuring out what she meant. “I’m not the best person to be asking this, you know.”

“Why not?” She scooped up a handful of sand and watched it as it slowly fell through her fingers. “If anything, you’re the best person to talk to about it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re his _family_.” She emphasized.

“So? He doesn’t care.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“It doesn’t matter in the end. If anyone gets in his way, it won’t matter who they are—he’ll just take them out of the picture.” His expression tightened. “But… I suppose he has a point. It all really depends.”

“How does it depend? We’re going through all of this trouble to kill him. There shouldn’t have to be a big philosophical point to it, right?”

“But that’s the core of the issue– philosophy, I mean. His philosophy says that murdering is never right because no matter which way you put it, he’s still a person.”

She frowned. “Yeah, but he deserves to die. He’s—”

“I know exactly what kind of person he is. You don’t need to remind me.” He cut her off sharply, then winced at his tone, and the surprised expression she gave him. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she assured softly.

They continued to sit in comfortable silence, Zuko let the waves sounding in the distance lull him into a stupor, easier memories letting him push their problems to the back of his mind.

Finally, “What do _you_ think?” Katara asked, jolting him out of his reverie.

“What do you mean what do I think? I already made my thoughts very clear.”

“No, you didn’t. You just said what you want him to do.”

“Aren’t those my thoughts?”

She huffed. “Forget about all the other problems—what do you really want him to do?”

“I want him to kill him. I don’t know what you want, Ka—”

“Listen to me, will you?” She cut him off. “Forget about the fallout, and all the problems that it might cause if he doesn’t kill him. What do you want? Personally?”

He glared at her. “What do you think? He’s my father, of course I don’t want him dead!” Zuko sounded choked for a moment. He clenched his jaw, then pressed on. “But it doesn’t matter. If Aang was right about anything it was that the world would be better off without him.”

“That’s all I asked for,” she told him mildly in hopes of placating him.

“Is that the answer you wanted to hear?” He asked quietly.

She didn’t answer and instead let the tide roll against her hand, washing off the sand.

He let out a deep breath. “I gave up everything I had to switch sides, and I came here knowing…expecting really, to have to play a part in killing him so Aang bringing this to the table somehow makes me feel as if my conclusions feel less validated,” he admitted. “I should have just done it myself while I had the chance.” Zuko muttered.

“And what would that have done?” She asked him.

“Saved everyone a lot of trouble, that’s what.” He replied shortly.

She frowned. “And then what?” She asked. “What would you have done after that?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed again. “Well there’s nothing that we can do about it now. There’s no point in wishing we did things differently.”

She nodded. “You’re right.” The waterbender swallowed. “But back to the original question, is Aang right about having to kill the Fire Lord?”

“I told you, I don’t know,” he reiterated, enunciating every word. “All I know is that the best way to do this is take him out. And like you said: he deserves it.”

“That doesn’t make it right does it?” She argued. “Does it? Who are we to decide whether or not he deserves it?”

“Does it take that much thinking to think that he deserves death?” He demanded. “He’s going to wipe out the Earth Kingdom just like what my great-grandfather did to the Air Nomads.”

“Maybe.”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of it, anyways? This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve killed someone, and this person isn’t acting on orders.”

She chewed her lip. “I don’t know. I… It’s just that this is what we’ve been planning to do ever since the beginning. Now that it’s actually happening? It just…it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And this is different than having war casualties and then having a mission specifically to murder someone.”

“I guess.”

“Hey, what are you doing out here?” She asked, a lighter tone to her voice.

He shifted his position so that his legs were crossed. “Same as you; to think.”

“About what?” She prodded.

“Just…things. Tomorrow. That’s when everything’ll start to go down.”

“Mm,” Katara picked up a shell and traced the grooves on it with her fingernails, staring at it despondently.

He began suddenly, “Don’t say anything about what I told you about how I felt about my—”

“I thought that went without saying,” she cut him off, quickly picking up on his anxious undertone. “You didn’t have to tell me that but you trusted me enough to do it anyway. And I know how you feel about people worrying about you.”

When the corners of the firebender’s mouth pulled downwards, she nudged him on the shoulder. “You’re going to need to start getting used to that, you know. People worrying about you, I mean. Because that’s what friends do; we worry about each other.”

“Sounds horrible on the giving and receiving end.” He remarked flatly.

“Oh, it is,” she teased. “But you get used to it.”

“Everyone does call you a mother pig-hen so maybe you’re just used to it.” He remarked.

“Is this about that Three Pig-Chickens story Toph told?” She demanded, crossing her arms defiantly.

He huffed, though it sounded something more akin to a laugh. “No, everyone just thinks you’re overbearing.”

She snorted, then stood up, stretching. “Humph. You don’t even know overbearing.” She shook the sand off of her skirt. “Come on. We should get some sleep. We’re… We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> I want to write a better Zuko because he’s one of my favorite fictional characters EVER, so being able to write him would be cool, but I can’t do it very well—even here he seems off to me. Gah. Any critiques are appreciated!


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